Storm-door structure



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. VAN KANNEL.

STORM DOOR SITRUOTURE.

No. 387,571. Patented Aug. 7, 1888.

N, PETERS, Phdvljmngrapher, Wnshnglon, D. C.

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

T. VAN KANNEL.

STORM DOOR STRUCTURE.

No. 387,571. Patented Aug. 7, 1888.

Ff. In A l me @Qa/M, I

llrO

Ilrtrrnn dramas PATENT Gratos.

THEQPHILUS VAN KANNEL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STORiVl-DOOR STRUCTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,571l dated August7, 1888.

Application filed February 10, 1888. Serial No. 263,630. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom t may concern: v

Be it known that L'IHnorninus VAN KAN- NEL, a citizen of the UnitedStates ,and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain Improvements in Storm-Door Structures, of which the following isa specication.

The object of my invention is to construct a storm-door structure of amore acceptable character that the usual swingingdoor structure, thefeatures of my invention and the advantages-of the same being too fullyset forth hereinafter to demand any extended reference thereto in thisportion of the specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional plan view of myimproved stormdoor structure placed outside of the building, the top ofthe fixed structure being removed. Fig. 2 is a vertical section o'f thesame on the line l 2, and Figs. 3 to 10 views illustrating details ofconstruction or special'features of the invention.

The fixed portion of the structure comprises the base a, top plate oreeiling,a,and opposite segmental side plates, b b, and pivoted to thetop and base of the xed structure is the central post or standard,A,ofthe door, the latter having in the present instance three radiating andequidistant wings, A', which extend vertically from the base to the topof the iixed part of the structure and iit snugly thereto, being,ifdesired,provided with weather-strips or equivalent means to insure asnug fit.

The segmental side portions of the fixed structure are in horizontalextent equal to or slightly in excess of the space between the twowings, the latter being preferably provided at their outer edges withyielding or elastic strips d,bearing against the inner faces of saidsegmental side portions of the structure.

The door is preferably provided at the top or bottom, or both, with aretaining-pawl or equivalent device, so that said door can move in butone direction,this direction being preferably forward on the right, andthe iaee of each wing is provided with a suitable handrail, e, and witha sign indicating the propel' direction of movement of said wing. y

It will be evident that a storm-door structure of the character shownand described possesses numerous advantages over a hinged-door structureof the usual character, for, as the door ts snugly in the casing, it isperfectly noiseless in its operation and effeetually prevents theentrance of Wind, snow, rain, or dust either when it is closed or whenpersons are passing through it. Moreover, the door cannot be blown openby the wind, as the pressure is equal on both sides of the center ofmotion, and the door can be moved Without noticeable resistance, as itrequires no springs or weights to restore it to its closed position orany bumpers to prevent slamming. Further than this, as the door moves inbut one direction, there is no possibility of collision, and yet personscan pass both in and out at the same time.

The excluding of the noises of the street renders the structure ofspecial advantage at the doors of churches, lecture-rooms, libraries,theaters, and the like.

The structure may be used throughout the whole year, the door havingsolid or glazed wings during the Winter season and gauze or latticewings during the summer.

To insure the maintenance of the door in the proper position of restwhen persons are not passing through the doorway, I prefer to providethe upper end of the pivot-post A of the door with a star-wheel, f, withwhich engage rollers f', carried by opposite arms g, pivoted to asuitable stud on the top of the fixed portion of the structure and actedupon by a spring, g', which tends to cause the rollers to enter thenotches in the wheel f, the wings of the door in such ease occupying theposition shown in Fig. l, and the springarms, in connection with thestarwheel or notched disk, tending to restore the doors to this positionif they happen to be left in any other position by persons passing in orout, so that the entrance to the structure, either from the inside oroutside, is always free and unobstructed.

The door may, if desired, be locked to the fixed portion of thestructure when it is desired to prevent ingress or egress through thelatter-for instance, in Fig. 2 I have shown one of the wings A providedwith a pivoted bolt, h, which can be turned so as to engage with a slotor opening in the top a of the fixed portion of the structure, and sucha bolt, or an equivalent ol' the same, may be used on each wing or onone or both sides of the wing, il" desired. I also prefer to hinge oneor more IOO ofthe wings to the central post, or at a point near thesame, so that said wings can be thrown back against the fixed wing,thereby providing a clear opening through the structure to permit thecarrying oi' a long object in or out through the saine, and also toprovide for the circulation of air in the event of the occurrence of' asuddenly warm day in the spring or fall, after the solid wings have beenapplied to the door; and I prefer that the entire wing should swing,although, if desired, said wing might have a rigid outer frame andaswingingiunerportion,as shown,forinstance, by dotted lines in Fig. 2,this inner portion being locked to the outer portion or frame by asuitable bolt or catch when it is not desired to open it.

In some cases it may be desirable to remove the entire door from the xedeasing, and for this reason I make the bearing-plate for the upper pivotof the door detachable and the lower pivot-pin, i, of the dooradjustable vertically, so that it can be withdrawn from engagement withthe lower bearing-plate, the pi n in the present instance being free toslidein a socket, t', in the lower end of the post A, and heilig securedin position after adjustmentby means of a set-screw, m, adapted to aslot, m', in said post, as shown in Fig. 4.

There are eases when the structure may only be intended for temporaryuse, and in such cases the entire structure may be removable. Forinstance, in Fig. 3 I have shown a structure the base of which ismounted on suitable wheels or casters, the structure heilig moved up tothe doorway and secured thereto, if' desired, by suitable hooks,catches, or other fast venings, a structure of' this character beingespecially available for use at the doors of churches, theaters, andhalls, so that it can be moved entirely out of the way to permit freeexit when the audience or congregation is leaving the building. l.Vherea temporary structure of' this sort is used, the fastenings whereby thesaine is attached to the doorway should be of such a slight characterthat they can be readily broken or torn from their places in the eventof a sudden rush againstthe door-structure from the inside ofthebuilding, so that no obstacle to free egress will be afforded in theevent of a panic. Then one or more of' the doors is hinged, it becomesnecessary to brace the same, so that the door structure will preserveproper rigidity .under ordinary circumstances, and although a rigidbrace may be used for this purpose, such brace would have to be detachedwhen the doors were swung back; hence I prefer to use as braces chainsor ropes, which, being flexible, can hang down when the hinged doors areswung back, sc that only one oit" the chains need be detached in orderto free both doors.

The chains It 7a between the hinged doors and the rigid door of thestructure are preferably provided at one end with a tightening device,by which they may be held taut; but the other chain, which connects thetwo piv- Ajecting strip serving oted doors, is provided at one end witha hooked catch-plate, 1p, which is applied to an inclined retaining'rib,p', on one ol' the doors, (see Fig. 5,) the hooked eatclrplate beingpushed upward on this retaining-rib, so as to gradually tighten thechain It', and said plate finally entering a notch, s, near the upperend of the 1'ctainingrih,so as to prevent accidental descent of theplate and loosening of the chain.

The flexible strip at the outer edge oi' each door, for bearing againstthe inner face ol' the segmental side of' the fixed portion of thestructure, is preferably constructed as shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, thestrip being confined between the outer edges of a flexible sheet, l,made by folding a piece of oil-cloth, leather, or equivalent materialaround a rope or cord, t', which is continued in a groove in a strip, o,secured to the edge ofthe door, this groove preventing the lateralwithdrawal of the sheet t, and yet permitting the ready longitudinalstretching of the same, so that 1t can be kept under tension7 the lowerend of the ileXible sheet t being secured to the strip u, but its up perend being lapped over the upper end el' the strip before being securedthereto, so as to form a loop for the insertion of a wedge, w, or otherequivalent t-ightener.

The space between the segmental side of the casing and the outer edgeot' the door and its strip yU is preferably of' such width as to preventthe pinching or catching of the lingers of the hand between thesegmental side piece and the outer edge ol" the door, the ileXible protoprevent injury from this cause.

As a further precautioin'l in some cases provide the segu'iental sideportions of the fixed easing of the door with flexible jambS, as shownin Figs. i) and l0, a rope, cord, or other flexible band, ;1/, beingstretched from the top to the base ofthe structure, and a folded striper sheet, 9/, of rubber, leather, textile fabric, or like material,extending from the band to the rigid portion of the segment.

When it is desired to enlarge the openings for ingress and egress in thefixed portion of the structure, the doors maybe provided at their outerends with projecting segments, as shown in Fig. 3,so that the oppositesegmental sides of the fixed structure can be made considerably less inextent than when the plan shown in Fig. l is adopted.

rlhe strip Jr on each wing of the door is pref4 erably slotted, as shownin Fig. G, for the re eeption of the retaining-screws, so that it can beadjusted radially to compensate for wear upon the flexible strip (Z.

Having thus described my invention, what f claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

l. The combination, in a storm-doorstructure, of the fixed portionhaving opposite segmental sides, with the pivoted doorcom posed ofwings, each fitting snugly to the segmental sides ol" the fixedstructure, the latter being IOS IIO

of a width equal to or greater in extent than the distance bet-ween theouter ends of adjacent wings ofthe door, all substantially as specified.

2. The combination,in a stormdoor structnre, of the fixed portion havingtop, base, and opposite segmental sides, with the pivoted door composedof Wings,each itting snugly to the top, base, and segmental sides of thefixed structure, said segmental sides being of a width equal to orgreater in extent than the distance between the outer ends of adjacentwings ofthe door,all substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the outer or inclosing casing, having oppositesegmental sides, with a pi voted door structure having radiating wings,one or more of which are hinged, in whole or in part, so as to be thrownback ont ofthe way, all substantially as specified.

4. rlhe combination of the pivoted door having radiating wings,some ofwhich are hinged, with bracing-chains connecting` the wings, one of saidbracingchains being detachable, all substantially as specified.

5. The combination of two of the wings of the door, one of which ishinged,with a bracingchain connecting said wings and having aCatch-plate, and an inclined bearing-rib on one of the wings forengagement with said catch'plate, all substantially as specified.

6. rEhe combination of the fixed structure7 having opposite segmentalsides,with the door, the wings of which have projecting flexible stripsprovided with means of adjustment, whereby they are held taut, allsubstantially as specified.

7. The combination ofthe wing of the door and the grooved strip securedthereto with the outer liexible strip and the flexible carriertherefor,consisting of a strip or sheet secured to the outer strip andfolded around a cord confined in the groove of the door-strip, allsubstantially as specified.

8. The combination ot' the door having radiating wings with the casingstructure hav ing opposite segmental sides with flexible jamhs, allsubstantially as specilied.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciication in thepresence of two snbscribing witnesses.

THEOPHILUS VAN KANNEL.

XVitnesses: p

WILLIAM D. CONNER, HARRY SMITH.

